A splash of Happiness

Its been over 5 days and i still wake up with a smile...

Its more than just comforting to know that my next futuristic step has already been decided & chosen. Its overwhelming. 15th of September was really good. And a really fantastic event took place that day.

It was the day of my placement process with CG. i was nervous. I woke up before the alarm & quickly collected my things together after my shower. I had already filed my documents & accurately re-checked them twice over. I didnt prepare anything for the written test. I had no expectations whatsoever. i would say my brain had dulled out. I just decided to go with the flow. 

Everything went as per plan and schedule. I took an early bus and reached right on time. I bowed my head low as i passed Siddhivinayak temple. Slighting hoping things will be more in my favor this time. the pre-placement talk had already begun by the time i reached. I knew the aptitude test will begin shortly and began mentally preparing & arming myself with formulae. Me and Shreyas did a quick run-through of most of the chapters hoping the tough questions would never come up. I knew i was in good shape for the test. I could solve most of the questions. Eventually after an hour it was time. The test was of 90 mins comprising 75 questions. It was'nt easy. It was too difficult either. i breezed pass the English & Analytic sections. Quant was where it got rough. the questions were definitely conceptual 7 each took more than 3-4 mins to solve. the only thought running through my mind then was to give in all i had. To give my best - maybe for the last time. Yes, i had almost given up. My confidence was dipping to dangerously low levels. I know had 23 mins to complete the test.. and i gave it my best shot. I managed 15/25 questions in Quant. It was over. I stepped out to see blank faces. No one was willing to acknowledge openly that it wasn't a cake-walk. this was the third company for most. Exhaustion & boredom was evident.

Then came the hour-long tormenting wait. 75 students from the previous 100 batch had already moved up the GD round. I was waiting. A tad anxious. But very hopeful. I wanted this ordeal to end. I wanted to move-on.

finally the tiny woman came with the list. My name was the second-last name to be announced. A hundred thoughts ran through my head. I was happy. Uncontrollably excited. Still glad that i cleared the aptitude. I tried to image what i would have felt had  not cleared the test. But i had. I was glad. A step closer. I began thinking about my group discussion. I hadn't taken part in one for over a year now. But something told me it would be okay. I began to regain lost confidence. 

The group discussion was more that just awesome. it was hilarious. the topic was -" Do Films corrupt the youth". Something just what i was always prepared for. I initiated the discussion & arguments started pouring in. Half were inactive & didn't care much. I was obviously for the topic. I had taken my stand .. and for the next 45 mins, i stood by it. All in all it was amazing. People brought up film examples only to be embarrassed. One started talking about Hollywood movies. One started politics. The discussion oscillated between vulgarity & the youth's perception of it. The argument being - the Silver Screen can show anything, its up to the audience to pick up the "moral" from it. total BS. the audience here being the youth - is expected to have mature decision making ability. LOL. Then i brought up the movie "No Strings Attached" - a typical Hollywood flick circling on live-in relationships. I know this move had no "good" message. Someone argued about modernization evolving from films. Luckily, time was up. The discussion was summarized by the leader himself.

A few minutes later ... the results were announced. I had moved up to the interviews. i was more than just happy. i felt good. Really really good.

Fast-forwarding to the main event of the day... after waiting for over 5 hours, i got my call. I was the 2nd last candidate to be interviewed. i kept revising the HR interview answers over and over & pushing aside random thoughts of failure, life-lessons, irritation & exhaustion. I knew this was it.

i walked in - poised & alert. My mind heavy but still agile. Thoughts circling around in every direction. I know this had to go well. but i was prepared for anything. The interviewer was very chilled-out. He gave me minute to relax & began to question the sole purpose of me being present there. He asked me a lot of random questions probably trying to get a baseline. he asked my why computers, why not MBA. what my ambitions were.. i breezed past though the interview. Till he finally asked me about my previous attempts at getting a job elsewhere. I know i had to be truthful, the guy was looking right through me... I dint want to lose this. Maybe it was the honesty or my resume, or both. He offered my the job on the spot. He told me i was selected !! Right there. During my interview. And he told me something else too (which i wont reveal). The feeling was out of the world !!!I had done it. It was over... I was Selected !!

I let the feeling sink in. And trust me, i felt better than being a birthday-girl. Congratulatory wishes came in.. I just tried to embrace it all. I felt purposeful and Happy. For once something had worked out. I knew my sentence had been rewarded.